A patio is a drainage project with a nice surface on it.

Grade first, pattern second

Every patio we build slopes away from the house at a minimum of 2%. That is roughly 20 mm of fall per metre — enough to move water, gentle enough that furniture sits level and nobody notices it underfoot.

Patios that pond are usually patios that were laid flat because flat looked better on the day. Water sits, the joints stay saturated, moss establishes, and in winter it becomes a sheet of ice against the back door. Where the yard cannot take the runoff, the answer is a drain line or a dry well, not a flatter patio.

Base depth is lighter than a driveway, and that is fine

A patio carries people and furniture, not vehicles. 100 mm of compacted granular is appropriate for pedestrian areas, against the 150 mm we use under anything a car drives on. Building a patio to driveway spec is money spent on capacity you will never use.

The exceptions are worth knowing: areas that will hold a hot tub, an outdoor kitchen with a stone counter, or a fire feature need a deeper and often reinforced base. Those get designed as their own element rather than treated as patio.

Layout choices that age well

A soldier border in a contrasting colour frames the space and gives the edge restraint something clean to lock against. It is the single detail that most separates a professional patio from a DIY one.

Curves read as more expensive because they are — every paver along a curve is cut. They are worth it where the patio meets a garden bed and looks wrong squared off.

Larger format pavers make a small yard read as bigger, and have fewer joints to maintain. Smaller units suit tight or heavily curved layouts.

Steps and seating walls get built as part of the same project rather than added later, because both need their own footing and both change where the grade has to fall.

Questions